Report: Six US Soccer presidential candidates to join forces

Six of the eight candidates fighting to become the next president of the U.S. Soccer Federation were said to have been locked in talks to form a “change” alliance ahead of Saturday’s vote in Orlando, Florida at the U.S. Soccer AGM.

With the on-leave president of Soccer United Marketing (SUM) Kathy Carter and the current vice-president of USSF Carlos Cordeiro viewed as the establishment votes and thought to be the frontrunners, the six other candidates came together to try and hash out a plan to make sure one of them got past the first ballot of voting.

If Carter or Cordeiro received a combined 50 percent share of the votes in the first ballot then the remaining six candidates would likely be locked out of the race to become the new president.

Paul Caligiuri, Steve Gans, Kyle Martino, Hope Solo, Mike Winograd, and Eric Wynalda are said to have met in Martino’s suite to try and thrash out an agreement where they would need over 50 percent of the vote combined to beat either Carter or Cordeiro.

Per reports from ESPN’s Jeffrey Carlisle, things got heated and it has been widely reportedly that Wynalda and his team had some issues with the agreement but the former USMNT star has since confirmed he’s on board with the agreement.

Below is the statement which is said to have been drafted by the six “change” candidates, with the understanding that whichever of the six receives a higher percentage of votes in the first ballot will then represent the “change” vote against Carter and Cordeiro in the second round of voting.

With just five minutes between the first and second rounds of voting, it is believed these six candidates wanted to have a plan in place before a mad scramble on Saturday to determine who wins.

Intriguing times ahead for U.S. Soccer in the next 24-36 hours.

Non-establishment candidates — six in all — agreed on statement (below) of solidarity asking delegates to stop Carter & Cordeiro. Wynalda backed out of agreement but may come back in, per source at meeting. Statement expected on Friday. pic.twitter.com/FKG0u70lFu